Obstacles to innovation : evidence from Malaysian manufacturing firms

The paper investigates the obstacles to innovation faced by Malaysian manufacturing firms during the process of innovation. The data are from the National Survey of Innovation 2000-2001 (NSI-3). The shortcomings and the relevance of each of these osbtacles are evaluated by type of innovator firms. For this, each firms is categorized - based on its level of innovation activity - as an innovator or as a non-innovator. The analysis also explores the differences between firms by industry type and firm size. The results show that among all obstacles, economic related factors appear to be most important. Furthermore, the level of importance of osbtacles is different for innovator and non-innovator firms. The paper concludes with an analysis of the complementarities between osbtacles in order to arrive at the primary factors that are obstacles to innovation activity.